Cranberries and Oranges are popular fruits around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. Itís only natural, then, that both be paired as ingredients in traditional holiday dishes. Rather than just serving cranberries in traditional cranberry sauce or cranberry orange relish at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, this Basic Cranberry Orange Filling can be used in cakes, pies, puddings, cheesecakes, cookies, and pastries. Itís convenient, too, since it can be made a week ahead and refrigerated, or can be made months ahead and frozen.
While nutrition is not usually the primary factor when choosing holiday desserts, itís nice to know that cranberries are good for you. In fact, cranberries have enjoyed a surge of popularity recently due to the fact that they have been found to contain significant amounts of antioxidants and other phytonutrients which help prevent heart disease and cancer; cranberries are also loaded with Vitamin C.

Fresh cranberries are only available September through early January; once theyíre gone, no more will be available until the next year. At the end of the season, they often go on sale, and itís a good idea to stock up and store a few bags in the freezer since there are so many great dishes that can be made with them.